Younger Members?
Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 22
Im 25 and just got out of treatment 3 weeks ago this month on the 29th I will have 90days god willing. I don't mind going to meetings with older people I used to like to hand out with people and drink and do drugs with people older then me anyhow Ive always been that way. My sponsor is closer to my age however.
In response to TIB, you don't have to be older to do all those things you mentioned alcoholism progresses at different paces for each alcoholic I was having morning drinks in high school and my hands would shake and I was drinking around the clock by the age of 19, 3 DUI arrests and a bankruptcy by 23, found myself spiritually bankrupt at 24. There is no amount of time or an any specific amount you need to drink for to become an alcoholic, alcoholism is about how your mind and body react to alcohol particularly the fact that once you start you can't stop.. You body actually adapts to it at a cellular level and you change physiologically and start to require it to function thats when it has you, in fact the disease already has you screwed before you even notice some of the late stage problems.
In response to TIB, you don't have to be older to do all those things you mentioned alcoholism progresses at different paces for each alcoholic I was having morning drinks in high school and my hands would shake and I was drinking around the clock by the age of 19, 3 DUI arrests and a bankruptcy by 23, found myself spiritually bankrupt at 24. There is no amount of time or an any specific amount you need to drink for to become an alcoholic, alcoholism is about how your mind and body react to alcohol particularly the fact that once you start you can't stop.. You body actually adapts to it at a cellular level and you change physiologically and start to require it to function thats when it has you, in fact the disease already has you screwed before you even notice some of the late stage problems.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Arundel Maine
Posts: 78
hello
I got sober at 20 years old in 1977. There really were not a lot of young people. But like previous people have stated, I was ready to get sober and I identify with the message. Yeah, it could be hard at times. But I knew I could no longer drink in safety and my life was unmanageable. I just wasn't willing to pay the price any longer. Pinetree
I got sober at 20 years old in 1977. There really were not a lot of young people. But like previous people have stated, I was ready to get sober and I identify with the message. Yeah, it could be hard at times. But I knew I could no longer drink in safety and my life was unmanageable. I just wasn't willing to pay the price any longer. Pinetree
Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: here
Posts: 70
People buckle down, and get sober when they've had all the booze they want. That can happen at any age. I knew I had a problem when I was 23 but I didn't want to quit until I was 25. I'm now 27 with over a year sober. Age is just a number.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 40
Originally Posted by tiburon88 
It has been said that it takes an average of 10 years of hard core drinking to become true alcoholics. I saw a girl who announced her birthday at the meeting, she was only 17! I suspected her parents made her go to meetings. I'm sure her parents don't realize the amount of predators in the rooms. I saw 2 older men rush to this poor girl after the meeting to check out her "spirituality." I came into AA forced by a job in my mid 20's. Looking back I wasn't even a real alcoholic then. I suppose I'm jealous of the real young members today. They have never been to jail, detox, morning drinks, blackouts, ect.... At the same time maybe they aren't even real alcoholics and are just going through that college party stage. I think the sickest thing would be to have someone attend AA and not even be an alcoholic.
tib
tib
Owner of a strange glitch.
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: midsouth
Posts: 2,331
I'm 29, sober for not very long at all, but the longest I been since the eighties.
I don't believe that there is a set time for the onset of alcoholism. I have seen people in real life and in here who have far different experiences, who started much older or somehow just liked drinking too much and ended up throwing it all away in a couple years. And I know others who drank hard for 30-40 years before turning in. It depends on the individual.
Congratulations to all of y'all who realized early on that y'all had a problem. In retrospect I had a problem before middle school. I found out in 2008. A lot of damage has already been done that I cannot take back. Luckily for me, no bankruptcies or anything. I started out too poor LOL. Can't lose nothing when nothing is what you got... But the toll on my body and my life, especially social life which is important in these years... I can't take it back and I have to live with that.
Shoot, as soon as you figure you got a problem (assuming you do, I'm no judge), get to working on it seems to make sense to me. Sooner better than later applies here, I think.
I don't believe that there is a set time for the onset of alcoholism. I have seen people in real life and in here who have far different experiences, who started much older or somehow just liked drinking too much and ended up throwing it all away in a couple years. And I know others who drank hard for 30-40 years before turning in. It depends on the individual.
Congratulations to all of y'all who realized early on that y'all had a problem. In retrospect I had a problem before middle school. I found out in 2008. A lot of damage has already been done that I cannot take back. Luckily for me, no bankruptcies or anything. I started out too poor LOL. Can't lose nothing when nothing is what you got... But the toll on my body and my life, especially social life which is important in these years... I can't take it back and I have to live with that.
Shoot, as soon as you figure you got a problem (assuming you do, I'm no judge), get to working on it seems to make sense to me. Sooner better than later applies here, I think.
Guest
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 111
i'm 34, and i prefer meetings with an older crowd (45/50 and up). that's where you will hear the "knock your socks off", lived it and learned it gems of wisdom. this isn't about feeling comfortable with your identity and fitting into a hip social sphere, it's about complete transformation of the spirit and psyche. that's not to say there isn't value in the words of everyone regardless their age, but there is something to be said for the cunning insight of the oldtimers. anyway, what do i know, i'm only 34! 
regardless, don't feel stupid. just go already. you're feeling the pull. try this: grab the meeting guide, close your eyes, pick a random meeting and go. go. go go go go without thinking about what you are doing or who will be there. when you find yourself in the seat and you start sweating and shaking, you're on your way home (home as a spiritual metaphor). fifteenminutes in you will hear exactly what you need to hear. try it then let me know if i'm wrong. i was scared and embarassed at first as well. it passed.
take care,
bh
regardless, don't feel stupid. just go already. you're feeling the pull. try this: grab the meeting guide, close your eyes, pick a random meeting and go. go. go go go go without thinking about what you are doing or who will be there. when you find yourself in the seat and you start sweating and shaking, you're on your way home (home as a spiritual metaphor). fifteenminutes in you will hear exactly what you need to hear. try it then let me know if i'm wrong. i was scared and embarassed at first as well. it passed.
take care,
bh
Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 39
im only 22 and i know exactly what your going threw it sucks to be the only person at a party that cant control how much they drink. i live in a college comunity and there are alot of partys and that everyone drinks in college it seems normal the differnece between us and them is that we cant control how much we drink and what we do when we have too much
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